Pro-drilling Texas Republicans get low marks from environmental group

The League of Conservation Voters released this week the 2011 National Environmental Scorecard. The ranking weighed bills related to offshore drilling. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

A national environmental watchdog recently ranked Texas’ two Republican senators among the country’s least environmentally conscious based on their votes during the last congressional session.

The liberal League of Conservation Voters focused on 11 Senate votes from last year that touched on ethanol and oil subsidies, offshore drilling, greenhouse gases and cross-state air pollution, among other issues. Senators who voted in favor of what the nonprofit deemed “pro-environment” actions often scored higher.

Not surprisingly, the pro-drilling Texas senators averaged 9 out of a possible 100 — tied with Wyoming, Idaho and Arizona. Only four states scored lower.

The average national score for senators was 55.

The purpose of the ranking is to “be a tool for constituents across the country to hold their members of congress accountable on key environmental issues,” said Mike Palamuse, the league’s vice president of communications.

The group has released the National Environmental Scorecard every Congress since 1970.

Of the 11 measures considered in the ranking, each of the Texas senators only voted once for a “pro-environment” issue. Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Dallas, and John Cornyn, R-San Antonio, approved a measure to not renew an ethanol tax subsidy and import tariff that expired at the end of 2011.

Hutchison “has also provided key and persistent support to a number of Texas conservation projects, including the San Antonio Mission, the Fort Davis National Historic Site, and Caddo Lake, the only natural lake in Texas,” according to a statement from her office.

Cornyn’s office did not comment on the scorecard. Instead, they questioned the reason for paying attention to a report from “such a liberal group.”

The league also analyzed 35 votes at the U.S. House of Representatives. Topics in this ranking included clean water, gulf restoration measures and coal ash pollution.

The average national score for individual representatives was 45. The scores from Texas’ House delegation ranged between 3 and 97 on a scale of 100. Four representatives tied for the lowest score: Francisco “Quico” Canseco, R-San Antonio, Michael Conaway, R-Midland, Louie Gohmert, R-Tyler, and Randy Neugebauer, R-Lubbock.